Madhu Knits and Cooks

Miznon's Whole Cauliflower - Easier than Expected Cauliflower Treat!

A few months ago, my friends Jenny and Dave made the famed Miznon whole roasted cauliflower at home and raved about the results.  One of my biggest pandemic regrets is that I kept pushing off our trip to the NYC Miznon location (last reservation I made and cancelled was for March 13, 2020), so I have yet to try this cauliflower sensation (let alone their other delish vegetarian options!).

Hearing that I could try this dish at home - and that it wasn't difficult - inspired me to look for smaller cauliflower heads that may work with their recipe.  Unfortunately though, our grocery store generally seems to have gigantic cauliflower heads so months passed before I found what seemed to be a sufficiently manageable cauliflower size.

While it took me awhile to figure out the logistics of how to boil the cauliflower (watching the Food & Wine video would have helped!), I ended up using a colander instead of a ceramic plate to keep the cauliflower submerged.  I also substituted kosher salt for the sel gris to fit what I had on hand.

After draining and baking the cauliflower, it wasn't as browned as I liked so I turned on the broiler for 2 minutes which some other websites recommended.  That worked great to get the dark browning throughout the cauliflower head and also made up for my not-quite-even cauliflower base, which meant the cauliflower fell over during baking instead of remaining head up.

While I served the cauliflower with tahini, we didn't quite like the combination (might have also been that our tahini isn't the highest quality) so I may make another sauce for this in the future.  I otherwise though loved this well-salted, soft, and lightly oiled cauliflower.  I look forward to making it again as a great side or meal centerpiece.

My First Couscous - A Bland Disappointment

Last year, I had a perfectly spiced Moroccan vegetable and couscous dish at a restaurant in Minnesota.  Tangy, sweet, and rich with multiple flavors from herbs and the individual vegetables.  And the couscous - what a great grain complement.  

I have never made couscous at home, but inspired by this meal memory, I decided to try my hand at it.  And as I do, I turned to Cook's Illustrated first for recipe ideas and settled on their Moroccan Chickpea and Vegetable Couscous recipe.

Unfortunately, as the post title suggests, I was underwhelmed by this couscous as it tasted quite bland.  Chickpeas, peas, carrots and couscous.  Nothing more, nothing less.  The fresh and dried herbs didn't really come through, and while extra lime juice helped, it still didn't do much.  Oh well, at least I tried couscous! 

And most important, I learned that you don't need to cook couscous on the stovetop, rather just pour boiling water / broth over the dried couscous (toasted in this case), cover, and let the hot liquid "cook" the couscous for several minutes.  Hopefully, I find a better recipe for my next couscous attempt!

Milk Street Black-Eyed Pea Fritters - An Easy Party Snack

I've been eating a lot of black-eyed peas this past year, mostly in tacos.  I really like these flavorful, versatile beans which are also a cinch to prepare with their short cooking time.  When I recently saw Milk Street's West African Black-Eyed Pea Fritters, I thought these would be a logical extension of my new black-eyed pea love.  

These fritters couldn't have been easier to make - no bean cooking required - and the final result was good, though not great.  The fritters tasted like what you'd expect a fried black eyed-pea snack to taste like, nothing more, nothing less.    

While I am not sure if I will make these treats again, I did enjoy the crunchy exterior coupled with the moist and soft interior and the subtle black-eyed pea flavor.  

The fritter batter starts by soaking the beans before throwing them in a food processor.

Then stir in the other herbs to make the final batter.  Finish by dropping spoonfuls into the 350 degree oil. 

Three modifications I made to the Milk Street recipe:  I inadvertently soaked the peas for 27 hours, I halved the recipe, and I subbed jalapenos or serranos for the fresnos, which generally aren't available in our store.  The final fritters also required a fair amount of extra salt for the bean and chile flavors really come out.

A Mostly Instant Pot Rasam - A MadhuKnitsandCooks.com Success!

Rasam is a simple spiced South Indian vegan soup or broth.  It's one of my favorite accompaniments to Indian meals, though I haven't made it in some time.  Emboldened by our first trip to the local Indian grocery store in 6 months, I decided to try a more substantive rasam than my previous efforts.  

I turned to Saranya Mandava's Indian Cuisine cookbook, and decided to go with her "Rasam No. 2" recipe with a few modifications from my mother and utilizing the Everest rasam powder I purchased.  

The final result was excellent - perfectly spiced from the mustard seeds and rasam powder; tangy from the tomatoes and lemon juice; and substantive from the mashed moong dal.  I will be making this rasam recipe again and again!

And the best part?  Using the Instant Pot for most of the dish, which freed up the rest of my stovetop for other dishes I was preparing at the same time. 

My main recipe modifications were to cook the moong dal for 10 minutes on low pressure in the Instant Pot before mashing; using 2 tsp. of rasam powder, which I added to the rasam with the tomatoes; and omitting the grinding of the spices that had been tempered on the stovetop.  I instead just added them directly to the pot after cooking them on the stovetop in a small pan.

I also added 5 curry leaves, which I ripped in half, to the tempering spices, and I omitted the fenugreek seeds to the tadka because I couldn't find them in my pantry (did I throw them away?).  Finally, I used approx. juice from 1/4 lemon, which seemed to be enough.

A Fantastic Upma (Thanks Mom) - A Hearty Spiced Semolina Breakfast

Upma is a savory and hearty Indian breakfast dish, usually made with roasted dry semolina though I have made variants with quinoa and steel cut oats.  As it turns out, sometimes sticking to the original can produce the best results as my recent effort with ground semolina or sooji found.

I purchased the sooji, roasted so I didn't need to roast it at home, at our local Patel Brothers.  I followed Saranya Mandava's cookbook recipe with a few critical modifications from my mother.  

First was that I added fresh curry leaves (maybe 7 -8), which I ripped in half, to the cooking vegetables.  Second, I slightly reduced the oil to 5 - 6 tablespoons.  Third, I added the ginger toward the end of the onion / tomato / chile cooking time so that it wouldn't burn as the others cooked.

I also increased the salt to 1.25 tsp. and the water to 3 cups instead of the 1.5 - 2 called for in the recipe (semolina stayed the same at 1 cup).

Finally, after the semolina fully cooked after 3 - 4 minutes, I took the pan off the heat, stirred in juice from 1/4 fresh lemon and some diced cilantro.  I then let the upma stay covered for approx. 5 minutes before serving.

This finished upma was quickly consumed in our home.  The mixture was well-spiced from the mustard seeds and dals; tart from the lemon, tomato, and cilantro; slightly sweet from the ginger and semolina; and featured the unique deep flavor of the curry leaves.  Yum!

Brined Crispy Tofu - A Laborious But Delicious Tofu Preparation Method

For several months, I've wanted to try Cook's Illustrated "Better Fried Tofu" approach.  The method calls for brining raw tofu before tossing it in cornstarch for the lower fat pan-frying approach I enjoy.  CI reported that brining takes out more moisture from the tofu blocks, resulting in a crispier crust with a softer middle.

I paired this method with another CI recipe, published under their America's Test Kitchen brand.  The Crispy Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce (Tianla Cuipi Doufu) recipe worked really well with the brining modification as it just added a bit more time to the recipe prep.  

I cut the tofu as instructed into large blocks to do the quick brining.

I then cut the pieces into smaller increments (approx. 3/4 inch cubes) before the coating in cornstarch, cornmeal, and some toasted sesame seeds that I happened to have on as well.  

I pan fried the tofu in two batches, using about 1/2 of the vegetable oil called for in the recipe.  That seemed to be enough - approx. 1/4 cup for the initial batch and then a few more tablespoons for the second batch.

And then before serving, I followed the instruction to put the tofu into a preheated, slightly warm oven on paper towels to get some of the oil out.

Finally, I made some modifications to the accompanying sauce based on personal preference and the comments section on the ATK site.  I used only 1 tbsp. of sugar and I slightly reduced the cornstarch as well.

The sauce had both a sharp vinegar flavor and a sweet undertone, making it slightly odd for dipping. 

The tofu by contrast was fantastic - crisp and slightly crunchy from the cornmeal coating, with a nice moist interior.  It was a great appetizer before our larger meal. 

I look forward to using this tofu approach again and again, and figuring out new ways to pair it with other meals!

Pati Jinich's Arroz Verde - An Unexpectedly Fantastic Spiced Rice

Pati Jinich, the delightful host of the PBS show Pati's Mexican Table, has created a number of recipes that I rely on, including her super easy Arroz Rojo.  Her red rice is so good that I never thought about venturing away to make her Arroz Verde or green rice recipe.  I came to it only when I had a single poblano pepper that I didn't know what to do with, and I happened upon that page of her Pati's Mexican Table cookbook.  

The recipe seemed easy enough for my somewhat lazy attitude that weekday evening.  Not only was it, but it also was unexpectedly fantastic - spicy from the poblano pepper, herby from the cilantro, and slightly sweet from the onion chunks.  

I halved the recipe, and used vegetable bouillon for the broth, but otherwise followed the directions as is.

Do yourself a favor and get Pati's Mexican Table as soon as you can!

A Modern Cook's Year Carrot Dhal - A Dressed Up Lentil Stew for Guests

I make a lot of dals or Indian lentils.  It's an easy way to insert protein into vegetarian meals, and I usually make enough to last for days.  When I saw a complicated Carrot Dhal recipe in the much-heralded Modern Cook's Year cookbook, I didn't think this recipe was for me.  Does one really need a dal that requires many steps, and a special accompanying pickle at that?  

Insert the obvious yes!  This recipe produced a fantastic dal, with incredibly complex flavors and textures - slightly sweet from the carrots, creamy from the coconut milk, deeply spiced from the ground and crushed spices, slight bitterness from the spinach, and the sharp, spiced tang of the accompanying radish pickle.  Amazing.  This is a dal to serve at a dinner party to wow your guests instead of having it be a mere humble, protein-rich side.

I did make a number of changes to the recipe, some intended and others inadvertent.  Starting with the latter, I used 3/4 cup of masoor dal and 1/4 cup of moong dal because I ran out of masoor dal, I substituted champagne vinegar for white wine vinegar, used Better than Bouillon for the broth, and used light coconut milk instead of its full fat equivalent.  On the intended changes, I used slightly less lemon zest (3/4 lemon) and juice (1/2 lemon), slightly less cilantro and green chile, and reduced the cooking water to 2 cups to produce a thicker dal, which worked out well.

I also found microplaning everything to be a bit of a pain, so ended up using the largest holes on a box grater for the carrots and just finely chopped the onion and chile, which was fine.

While the dal is cooking, whip up your radish pickle, and then serve together.  You won't regret the time spent to prepare this luscious dish!

Fuchsia Dunlop "Fish Fragrant" Eggplant - Eggplant Has Truly Found Its Way Into My Kitchen!

Who would have thought 8 years ago, or even 3 years ago, that I would have finally mastered cooking Sichuan eggplant (or any type of eggplant) at home?  But fresh off my May mastery of Sichuan eggplant, using the Omnivore's Cookbook eggplant preparation approach, I set off to find a better sauce because the last one was too sweet and thick.

A friend recommended the UK Sichuan cooking expert Fuchsia Dunlop's Fish Fragrant eggplant recipe, and I was able to cobble together pantry staples to produce an excellent eggplant dish.  The eggplant was spicy, sour, and just slightly sweet from the chile paste, vinegar, sugar, and spice mixture.  The green onions added a slight freshness to this dish as well - yum!

I made a few minor substitutions to the recipe - I reduced the sugar to 1 tsp. to avoid too sweet a dish, I substituted corn starch for the potato starch, and I used water + vegetarian Better than Bouillon for the chicken stock.  And of course, as mentioned above, I repeated the Omnivore's Cookbook usage of cornstarch to coat and cook the eggplant pieces instead of deep frying them.

After cooking the eggplant, which I did in 3 batches, I then quickly simmered the sauce down before adding in the eggplant.  The dish comes together quickly after the eggplant is cooked, so have your rice and other sides ready to eat immediately!

Moosewood Peruvian Quinoa Stew - Healthy Option for the Week

In an effort to break away from my library books, I browsed my cookbook shelf to find a cookbook that hasn't received a lot of love from me.  While scanning the titles, I was saddened that most of my cookbooks fall into that category.  Undaunted, I selected my Moosewood Cooks at Home book and found the Peruvian Quinoa Stew recipe.  With a new unopened bag of quinoa at home, this seemed like an obvious recipe to try.

The recipe was incredibly healthy - vegetables and ground spices - and very easy to prepare by using the Instant Pot to cook quinoa.  Amazingly, quinoa cooks perfectly in 1 minute at high pressure!

And I didn't need to use the oil recommended to coat the pot - no sticking occurred, similar to my omission of oil for my Instant Pot cooked steel cut oats.

As the quinoa was separately cooking, I built the stew base with the vegetables and spices.  I used a full Pomi chopped tomatoes box in the stew, so I had slightly more tomatoes (3 cups) than called for in the original recipe.

Unlike Indian recipes, you don't bloom the dried spices in the oil before adding the other ingredients, rather you add the spices when the vegetables go into the pot.  I was slightly worried that the spices wouldn't full blend into the soup using this method, but I was thankfully surprised by the result.  And a note for myself - I halved the coriander powder because of personal preference, and it worked out fine in the final dish.

The quinoa was great when served - incredibly tangy from the tomatoes; slightly sweet, sour and spicy from the spices; and very filling from all of the vegetables and quinoa.  The only downside of this dish is that I think it's meant more for a crowd (it comfortably serves 5 as a main course) or to eat over a week, versus the 2 days in which we quickly ate it up (and got a little sick of it).  I will be making this again and again, particularly in winter when it will help warm me on cold days.